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dashadashahi's review against another edition
5.0
In Saints, Sinners, and Soldiers Keshen analyzes the less good side of the "good war." As Keshen makes note of, the Second World War is remembered in Canadian popular memory as a simpler time when the young nation pulled together to defeat totalitarian regimes overseas. Keshen argues that this is only one aspect of the war. For many, the war brought panic over degrading morals and society slipping into debauchery. Through Keshen's detailed analysis it is clear that most topics of this moral panic were double-sided. For example, women entering the workforce brought about legislation for equal pay for equal work and growth in the number of women given the opportunity to work. However, traditional ideas of work remained as women who chose to work were viewed as contributing to moral decline and problem children. Women who entered the armed forces in numbers not previously seen faced people worrying about the state of femininity and saw servicewomen as an attack on family stability.
Keshan also covers the concerns over delinquent youth, wartime marriages and divorces, infidelity, illegitimate children, venereal disease, rent-gouging, charity scams, and prostitution. Such issues, even if overstated during the war, led to a growing concern over Canada's moral state. Such concerns also indicate the amount of change that Canada underwent over the course of the war. The variety and intensity of change meant that although many Canadians sought comfort in a traditional life after the war, too much had changed to make this idealized world order possible. The alterations Canada underwent prompted legislation that in some ways entrenched a more traditional, conservative worldview but in other ways allowed for progressive and radical laws that resulted in greater financial stability and increased opportunities for men and women.
Keshan also covers the concerns over delinquent youth, wartime marriages and divorces, infidelity, illegitimate children, venereal disease, rent-gouging, charity scams, and prostitution. Such issues, even if overstated during the war, led to a growing concern over Canada's moral state. Such concerns also indicate the amount of change that Canada underwent over the course of the war. The variety and intensity of change meant that although many Canadians sought comfort in a traditional life after the war, too much had changed to make this idealized world order possible. The alterations Canada underwent prompted legislation that in some ways entrenched a more traditional, conservative worldview but in other ways allowed for progressive and radical laws that resulted in greater financial stability and increased opportunities for men and women.
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